Display cabinet



April 27, 1937. l. P. sARuLLo ET AL DISPLAY ACABINET Filed Dec. 9, 1955 2 Sheets-Shea?l 2 Patented Apr. 27, 1937 UMTED sTArEs PATENT oFrlcE DISPLAY CABINET Ippolito Pietro Sarullo and Jerome Dawson, Greenville, Miss., assgnors, by direct and mesne assignments, of one-third to Frank M. Acree,

. Greenville, Miss., and two-thirds to said Sarullo Application December 9, 1935, Serial No. 53,653

4 Claims. (C1. S12-125) v 'I'his invention relates to display cabinets and more particularly to a rotary stand or cabinet especially designed for use in grocery stores and the like for displaying and dispensing dried beans, corn, chicken' feed, vegetables and other commodities.

The object of the invention is to yprovide a rotary display cabinet of simple and durable construction having a plurality of independent compartments adapted to receive dierent kinds of commodities so that by rotating the cabinet any desired compartment may be presented at the frontof said cabinet to permit convenient access to the contents thereof.

A further object is to reinforce and strengthen the cabinet by the provision of a series of interior conical-shaped braces which surround the central supporting standard and are connected with the adjacent walls of the compartments whereby to prevent buckling or sagging of the cabinetv when the compartments are filled and thus' insure easy turning movement ofsaid cabinet under all conditions of service.

A further object is to provide means for ventilating the upper food receiving compartments and means -for discharging dust, dirt or any other foreign matter which may accumulate in the lower compartments.

A still further object of the invention is generally to improve this class of devices so as to increase their utility, durability and eiciency.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views of the drawings:

Figure 1 is aside elevation of a rotary display cabinet constructedin accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view taken'.

` base 5, as'shown. Fitted within the sleeve 'I is astandard 9 preferably in the form of a rod, the lower end of which rests on the bottom of the base 5,1while the upper end thereof projects through the top of the cabinet, as shown. The sleeve 'l is secured to the rod Si by transverse pins I0 and similar pins I I serve to secure the collar 6 to the sleeve I so as to tie the parts together. Braces I2 vare preferably arranged within the hollow base 5, each brace Vhaving its lower end secured to the bottom of the base and its upper end attached, at I3, to the apex of said base. Fit--r ted over the rod 9 so as to turn freely thereon are upper and lower bearings M and I5 spaced apart by an intermediate sleeve I6, there being a similar sleeve il fitted over the upper portion of the rod 9 above the bearing I 4 with itsupper end bent laterally to formI a flange I8 to which is rigidly' secured a rotating table or platform I9. The cabinet proper is indicated at 2t and consists of a hollow structure, preferably polygonal in cross section and provided with vertical partitions 2l defining intermediate compartments 22 adapted to receive dried beans, corn, chicken feed or other commodities usually dispensed in a grocery store. Each compartment is provided with a glass panel 23 through Which the contents of the compartment may be readily inspected and disposed above each panel is a lid or closure 2A hingedly mounted, at 25, and provided with a finger piece or knob 26 for elevating the lid when it is desired to obtain access to the adjacent compartment. A1- ranged below the compartments 22 are auxiliary compartments 2l each provided with an opening 28 at the iront of the cabinet so that access may be readily had to vegetables and the like on display within said auxiliary compartments. The walls of the auxiliary compartments 2l at the openings 28. are preferably offset with respect to the glass panels 23 so as to facilitate the placement in or removal of Vegetables from the auxiliary compartments. The top of the cabinet 2t is preferably flat, as indicated at 29, and extends yslightly beyond the periphery of the rotary table or platform I9, there being Ventilating openings 30 formed in the extended portion of the cabinet top and covered by screening material 3i so as to permit free circulation of air within the upper row of compartments 22. The front wall of each lower compartment 2l is also preferably pro vided with an opening over which extends a strip of wire netting 32 to permit the free circulation of air within the auxiliary compartments. The bottom wall 33 of each auxiliary compartment is preferably formed of a strip of foraminous material, such as wire netting, so as to permit the discharge of dust, dirt or any other foreign matter which may accumulate within the auxiliary compartments. It will here be noted that the bottom 33 of each auxiliary compartment is inclined downwardly and spaced from and disposed substantially parallel with the adjacent wall of the conical base 5 so that dust and dirt passing through the screening material 32 will be directed downwardly by the inclined wall of the base 5 and discharged at the outer edge of the cabinet and in which position it may be readily removed when cleaning the store.

The upper and lower compartments 22 and 21 terminate short of the center of the cabinet to form a central compartment 34 and disposed within said central compartment are a plurality of conical-shaped braces, indicated at 35, 36, and 31, respectively. These conical-shaped braces are all preferably formed of metal, the lower conical-shaped brace 31 being provided at its upper end with a lateral attaching flange 38 which is riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the adjacent walls of the compartments while the lower end thereof ts in an annular groove 39 formed in the adjacent bearing I5 and to which it is rigidly secured as by welding or in any other suitable manner. The lower end of the intermediate conical-shaped brace 36 rests on the bearing l5 while the upper or large end thereof terminates in an attaching fiange 4U which is rigidly secured by means of bolts or rivets 4I to the adjacent walls of the upper compartments 22 near the top of the cabinet. The upper conical-shaped brace 35 is provided with a similar flange 42 which bears against the flange 40 of the brace 36 and is secured to the cabinet and to the brace 4i) by said bolts 4l, as best shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. 'I'he lower or small end of the upper conical-shaped brace 35 fits within a groove 43 formed in the upper bearing member I4 and to which bearing it is welded or otherwise rigidly secured so as to turn therewith. It will thus be seen that the conical-shaped braces 35, 36, and 31 are, in effect, nested, the intermediate and upper braces being secured to each other and to the adjacent walls of the cabinet and the lower conical-shaped meember being secured directly to the cabinet so that a series of interior diagonal bracing members are provided which will effectually sustain the weight of the cabinet when the compartments thereof are lled and thus prevent sagging of the cabinet and consequently insure free turning movement of said cabinet under all conditions of service.

The framework of each panel 23 is preferably formed with a knob or handle 44 so that the operator by grasping any one of the knobs 44 may conveniently rotate the cabinet to present any selected food compartment at the front of the cabinet to permit convenient removal of the contents of said compartment. It will here be noted that the cabinet proper, together with the compartments carried thereby, may be freely rotated around the central standard or rod 9 while the supporting table or platform' I9 is free to rotate independently of the cabinet or, if desired, may be rotated with the cabinet. This platform or table I 9 may be used for supporting weighing scales for measuring or weighing the commodities dispensed from the cabinet. If desired, however, the table may be used for other purposes. It will thus be seen that after the compartments of the cabinet are filled with the desired commodities said commodities may be readily dispensed by a groceryman or his attendant by merely grasping one of the knobs 44 and rotating the cabinet until the compartment containing the desired commodity is presented at the front of the cabinet. If it is desired to remove a portion of the contents froml one of the upper compartments, it is merely necessary to elevate the pivoted lid 24 thereof, or, if it is desired to remove vegetables or the like from,E the lower compartments, said vegetables may be removed through the openings 28, as will be readily understood.

The cabinets may be made in different sizes and shapes and constructed from any suitable material without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A device of the class described comprising a hollow substantially conical base, a standard rigidly secured to and extending through the base, a display cabinet mounted for rotation on the base and provided with upper and lower circumferential rows of food receiving compartments, the bottom walls of the lower compartments being perforated and inclined downwardly in spaced parallel relation to the adjacent inclined wall of the conical base, bearing members carried by the standard, a spacing sleeve surrounding the standard and interposed between adjacent bearings, and inverted conical shaped bracing members disposed one within the other and having their small ends secured to the bearings and their large ends provided with upstanding flanges engaging the adjacent walls of the cabinet.

2. A device of the class described comprising a substantially conical base, a standard projecting upwardly from the base and rigidly secured thereto, bearings mounted on the standard, a display cabinet mounted for rotation on the base and provided with upper and lower circumferential rows of food receiving compartments, the top of the cabinet being formed with Ventilating openings communicating with the compartments of the upper row and the compartments of the bottom row each having its bottom perforated and spaced from and disposed parallel with the adjacent wall of the base, and a plurality of nested inverted conical bracing members surrounding the standard and having their small ends secured to the adjacent bearings and their large ends provided with upstanding attaching flanges rigidly secured to the inner walls of the compartments.

3. A device of the class described comprising a hollow substantially conical base, a sleeve disposed within the base and secured to the bottom thereof, a standard fitted in and rigidly secured to the sleeve, spaced bearings carried by the standard, a spacing sleeve tted over the standard and interposed between the bearings, an auxiliary spacing sleeve resting on one of the bearings, a display cabinet mounted for rotation on the conical base and having its top formed with an opening to receive the auxiliary sleeve, and a platform secured to the upper end of the auxiliary sleeve and mounted for rotation independently of the cabinet, said cabinet being provided with upper and lower circumferential rows of food receiving compartments, there being Ventilating openings formed in the top of the cabinet and communicating with the upper row of compartments, the bottoms of the lower compartments being perforated and spaced from the adjacent conical surface of the base to permit the discharge of foreign matter from the lower compartments.

4. A device of the class described comprising a hollow substantially conical shaped base, a standard projecting upwardly from the base, bearings mounted on the standard, spacing sleeves fitted 75 1 to the standard, said bearings being interposed between the spacing sleeves, a display cabinet mounted for rotation on the base and provided with upper and lower rows of circumferential food receiving compartments, the compartments of the upper row being provided with display panels and the compartments of the lower row being provided with entrance openings and having their bottom walls perforated and disposed parallel with and A10 spaced from the conical surface of the base,

nger knobs projecting laterally from the panels for manually rotating the display cabinet, and inverted conical shaped bracing members surrounding the standard and having their small ends secured to the adjacent bearings and their large ends formed with anges secured to adjacent walls of said compartments. 

